Moments of Darkness
by AvalonianDream
Summary: A series of small stories expanding on the life and character of Gellert Grindelwald.
1. The Family Grimoire

Gellert had always surrounded himself with books. His father was a historian, and filled their home with tales of heroism, of conquest, and of magic. His mother shared the passion for literature – although her taste was far more fanciful. On her account, the great histories were joined by fairy tales, romances, and poetry.

They lived in a tiny cottage in a village on the Serbo-Bulgarian border. A historian and an unemployed mother could not earn much – and a large part of what they did earn was placed in a trust that guaranteed Gellert's place at the Durmstrang academy. Neither of his parents had gone to a magical school, and they wanted him to have the opportunity they did not.

It was not an uncommon occurrence for the family to forgo food in the favor of the purchase of a book. After all, as Gellert's father always said, 'nourishment for the soul is as important as nourishment for the body; and nothing nourishes the soul more than a well-written tale – except perhaps a good bottle of spirits.'

There was only one book in the house that Gellert was not allowed to read. On the top shelf of the highest bookrack was a large, black grimoire, which had been passed through his mother's line for generation. Whenever Gellert looked at it, he felt chills running down his spine – and the feeling exhilarated him. The first time he did accidental magic, he summoned the book. The scolding his mother gave him was one of the worst of his young life. Two weeks later, he summoned the book again. However, as his mother had told him not to open it, he never did – he merely looked at it, touched it, and exulted in the way his magic _shivered_ from the contact.

One day, when Gellert was seven, a rider burst into the village at a frantic speed, shouting at the top of his lungs. To his death, Gellert remembered the cries of the rider - "To arms! To arms! King Milan has declared war! The Serbian Army is on its way! To arms! To arms!" – and the way his father paled in sheer terror. Gellert's father had been involved in smuggling documents across the border for the Bulgarian intelligence service, and feared exposure. To young Gellert, the looks of sheer panic he saw exchanged between his parents meant one this: The Serbian soldier were demons, the kind that his stories often spoke of and warned about.

On an evening a few weeks later, a Serbian detachment came for Gellert's father. When they took him, Gellert screamed and kicked anything that came near him. One soldier fired his gun and Gellert. His father leapt in front of the bullet. The soldiers left Gellert's father to bleed out and instead took Gellert's mother with them to their encampment. The first hour after they left, Gellert was catatonic. Then, he got angry and summoned a book. Later in his life, he looked back upon the spell he learned from the book as a the defining factor of his life: The _imperius _curse.

When the dawn came, the young Gellert snuck into the Serbian encampment armed with his father's wand and rescued his mother. The soldier who had shot his father turned up four days later in the town square, flayed, burned, and decapitated.

From that day and until his first day at Durmstrang, Gellert carried the black tome with him wherever he went.


	2. The Benevolent Teacher

On the day Gellert turned eleven, a man showed up on his doorstep. At six and a half feet, the man towered over the young boy – and every other inhabitant of Gellert's village. However, despite the menacing figure the man cut, despite the traces of bloodstains on his black robes, despite the darkness evident in the aristocratic features of his face, Gellert felt a certain kinship with him – a chilling sensation that he until that day had associated solely with the comforting presence of his mother's grimoire.

"Gospodin Grindelwald", the man greeted him in the door, "You must excuse my delay; I found myself with a pressing obligation to defend my honor."

Gellert would later realize that the manner in which the man had defended his honor was clearly evident from the stains on his robes.

With a slight nod of his head, the man spoke again. "I am Duke Pyotr Alexandrovich Romanov. When you come to Durmstrang, you shall have the honor of attending my classes on dueling."

When the man introduced himself, Gellert was glad he had decided to bow. While he personally detested abasing himself in such a manner, he knew that acknowledging superiority was a politeness he would need to demonstrate until such time as _he _was considered superior. Therefore, Gellert hid his disgust at the feeling of superiority which the dark aristocrat exuded.

With a gloved hand, the man lifted Gellert's chin and stared into his eyes, and he had a distinct feeling that every part of his being – his body, his mind, his very soul – was being examined, studied and judged.

The man burst into laughter. "Oh, you have been busy! Perhaps we shall need to create an advanced curriculum for you? I would very much like to see that book of yours, if you would allow me -"

Gellert's mind raced. The man knew about the grimoire. He _was_ reading his mind. If that was the case, he would also be aware of Gellert's disguised contempt for the aristocracy – had he already made an enemy, before he arrived at the academy? And _how _was the man reading his mind? Would he also learn that? Was there a tactic to defend against it?

"Relax, young man. I share your views on most members of my station – they do not deserve the honor given, for they cannot defend it if necessary. As for the arts of the mind, I will make a deal with you. A friend of mine is a masterful teacher in that subject – a monk who frequents the court of the Tzar, although he is not spoken of in polite company. I will arrange for you to receive lessons from him, in exchange for your book."

At first, Gellert thought to decline the deal. He was, after all, loath to depart with the tome. "But then again", he mused, "against an enemy with the power to read my mind – I stand no chance, with or without the book." The more he thought it over, the more he realized that he truly _had_ no choice. If he ever desired to win a magical battle, he would need to prevent his enemy access to his mind.

"I accept."

"I see that, young man. And for all the right reasons, too – your instincts regarding the mental arts in dueling are correct. And if you have the desire and the drive, I can teach you every way of using it…"

To the man who would soon become Gellert's teacher and confidante, dueling was more than just a way to settle a score – it was an art, an exquisite pleasure, and a way for him to exert his cruelty without resorting to what he deemed _uncivilized behavior_.


	3. The Noble Academy

During the five years Gellert stayed at the Durmstrang Academy, a whispered _imperio_ crossed his lips almost daily – for him, the curse was second nature, a perfect expression of his desire for control, an extension of himself.

At first, he used it of necessity; there was a strict hierarchy at the academy, and poor, scrawny children from unknown families were near the bottom. When word got out that Gellert had the favor of Professor Alexandrovich, the place became outright dangerous for Gellert – there was a belief that whoever defeated him would replace him as the favorite. To an extent, the belief was true. The professor explained to Gellert that his powers would only truly nurture in the presence of adversity, that true strength should be gleaned from the face of death, and that requiring help would be to demean the power that lay dormant within the young man.

Over time, the other students became aware that in tormenting Gellert, they were playing with a force beyond their control. Rumors circled of boys waking up at night in the snow, victims of countless unfamiliar curses. Once, an older student challenged Gellert to a duel for his honor. The professor, naturally, was ecstatic; he announced the event to the entire school, and demanded the watchful eye of every student. "Come, students, come watch the noble sport; behold how the strong as in nature conquers the weak."

The duel itself lasted twenty-seven seconds. Gellert hit his opponent with eight different curses before he had a chance to react. Three weeks later, the professor was still using Gellert's technique as a demonstration for his younger students. When two months had passed, the students were still discussing the duel – and avoiding Gellert like the plague. After five months, Gellert's opponent woke up screaming. It took a month from he woke up to dispel the last of the curses. Three decades later, the man was one of the first to join Gellert in his quest to conquer Europe. At Durmstrang, strength was respected above all else.

After the duel, Gellert never had need of the imperius to defend his position again. He was acknowledged as the strongest student in the school, and none dared challenge him. It did not take him long to realize the truth of his teacher's words – his abilities were progressing at a slower rate than when he had adversaries. To compensate, Gellert began experimenting. Hidden from all but his teacher, he began using the imperius to steal away students for use as human test subjects. The professor encouraged this – after all, it was the right of the strong to use the weak. One night, the professor demonstrated two curses on one of Gellert's test subjects: The torture curse and the killing curse. A year would pass before Gellert cast them himself.

On the final day of Gellert's fifth year, Pyotr Alexandrovich Romanov was poisoned and killed by a student. When he realized he was dying, he got up, wiped his mouth, walked to Gellert's table, knelt before him and said: "I am proud of you. Truly, you were my greatest student." Then, he collapsed in death. That night, Gellert went to confront the killer.

"The professor taught me of strength. Did you kill him to prove yours?"

"I killed him because his teachings were barbaric", the man answered. "I killed him because he belongs to an era that is ending. I killed him because noblemen and aristocracy have no place in the world of the proletariat. But mostly, I killed him because he is the kind of man that would torment and humiliate me, a child, for seven years."

Gellert responded with the cruciatus curse and snarled: "You killed him to prove that he was powerless – tonight, I shall kill you to prove that _you_ are powerless."

As dark as Durmstrang at the close of 19th century was, the murder of a student was crossing a line. While no criminal charges were brought against Gellert, he was expelled from the academy. Ashamed, Gellert chose exile in Britain rather than a return to his native Bulgaria.

When Gellert four decades later returned to Durmstrang as a conqueror, he ordered a massive statue of the professor built in the courtyard. On the pedestal, he placed a plaque that read:

"_A living thing seeks above all else to discharge its strength – life itself is will to power, self-preservation only the indirect and most frequent result."_

To this day when new students arrive at Durmstrang, the statue and its message is the first sight that greets them.


End file.
